Chapter 120

WEE-OOO—!

THOOM— THUD—!

This commotion really does happen again every time I am about to forget it.

More importantly, would it not be better to change this siren sound?

It is too identical to the sound from 「Railway Station」, so it gives me chills.

Since the report I happened to be reading was also related to 「Railway Station」, I felt a little strange.

But it was not the first time, so I turned my eyes back to the report.

---

■ Conclusion

The new phenomenon of 「Railway Station」 has been confirmed.

1. A phenomenon in which one arbitrarily enters 「Railway Station」 when mentioning Agent (deleted) or accessing documents written by Agent (deleted).

As a result of a full enumeration survey, from January 14, 20XX to February 18, 20XX, the number of employees who mentioned Agent (deleted) or read documents written by Agent (deleted) was 56 total.

Among them, the number of people who mentioned Agent (deleted) or read the documents at a frequency similar to or higher than the victims of Cases 1, 3, 4, and 5 was 19 including the victims, and the damage occurrence rate was confirmed to be 36.84%.

2. When a person related to the Special Management Bureau enters 「Railway Station」, the 「Siren Sound」 occurs.

This 「Siren Sound」 does not follow the 47-minute rule and occurs consecutively.

The relevant phenomenon continues until all Bureau-related personnel who entered 「Railway Station」 are dead.

■ Follow-up Measures to Prevent Additional Damage

1. Blind all documents written by Agent (deleted).

2. Blind all data such as photographs and videos of Agent (deleted).

3. Delete Agent (deleted)’s name from all internal and external documents.

4. Prohibit speaking Agent (deleted)’s name and refrain from all mention of him.

5. Strictly prohibit Special Management Bureau-related personnel from entering 「Railway Station」.

---

It was not only meetings that lacked much completeness.

Reports were the same.

The report merely listed the phenomena and response methods exactly as they were.

It did not explain why such things had happened or what this phenomenon meant.

It did not attach opinions or interpret recklessly.

For example, everyone avoided mentioning that the point when the abnormal phenomenon began in 「Railway Station」 and the point when 「False God」 took the form of snake bones were both after the intervention of Intensive Suppression Week.

Well, I suppose this would be right for them.

Leaving room for interpretation in every blank space was a technique used by authors.

Unidentified real incidents should not be stitched together that way.

So I understood why they spoke as dryly as possible only about observed phenomena.

But this sort of thing made one feel helpless without quite realizing it.

Like a child being demanded to follow countless rules without knowing what those rules meant, one only developed paranoid vigilance.

WEE-OOO—!

THOOM—!

“…….”

By the way, today is a bit severe, is it not?

Even while I read the report, the siren sound came intermittently.

Was this the third time I had received the “Nuruk two” alert, or the fourth?

Still, until now, it felt as if it had ended within 10 minutes.

But this time, it had been continuing for over 30 minutes.

Is this really all right…….

By then, it was nearly midnight.

Jae-gyeom was not home either, and the artificial sky outside the window was simply dark.

The moment I looked back at the bed, wondering whether I should just sleep.

WEE-OOO—!

The siren sound came again.

Was it because I had been dragged into 「Railway Station」 last week and nearly died?

For an instant, chills ran through me, and the back of my neck stiffened.

……This will not do.

Feeling as if I would suffer sleep paralysis if I fell asleep like this, I left the lodging and headed to the break room.

But in that break room I visited without much thought, I ran into an unexpected person.

“Oh, Do-un.”

Manager Kwon Mu-seop, who had been sitting in the break room, found me.

Why is Manager here?

“Hello, Manager.”

I greeted him, a little surprised.

Manager Kwon Mu-seop was sitting at a table alone.

And in front of him were 2 unopened canned drinks.

It seemed he had gotten them from the vending machine in the break room, but what were they?

If he wanted drinks, the refrigerator in his manager’s office should be stocked with every kind.

“Are you here alone?”

“Ah, I am waiting for someone.”

Then he could just call them to the manager’s office, could he not?

If he was waiting here, that meant it was one of the Field Division employees anyway.

A manager waiting with canned drinks for an organic chance encounter.

Ah…… mm…….

“Do you want something to drink too?”

To me, who was inwardly afraid, Kwon Mu-seop simply handed over his card good-naturedly.

When a superior offers, accepting is also courtesy, so I silently took it and bought a drink.

Then, just as I was about to return the card, Kwon Mu-seop suddenly said to me,

“It is late, but thank you, Do-un.”

“Yes?”

“For finding Team Leader Kang.”

“……It was nothing.”

“I did not say it because I thought it might burden you, but there are many things I am grateful to you for. In many ways.”

Kwon Mu-seop’s voice as he said that was gentle, as usual.

So I suddenly became curious about what was inside Manager Kwon Mu-seop.

Manager Kwon Mu-seop seemed to have been close to Team Leader Kang Seung-cheol too.

Such a person had returned dead from an impossible space, in an impossible form.

Was Kwon Mu-seop maintaining his composure even amid this because he was strong, or because he was used to all of it?

It was a question I did not dare say aloud, so I changed the subject moderately.

“I heard from Baek Sa-ra.”

“Mm?”

“That the Special Zones that were reset will soon appear again.”

“Ah, that is right.”

“Everyone will suffer if they have to explore them again from the beginning.”

“It will not be an easy task. We can only hope no one gets hurt.”

Exchanging peripheral words with no completeness at all, I nodded.

But Kwon Mu-seop suddenly asked me,

“Does it feel a little stifling?”

“Yes?”

“The way the Bureau operates.”

I looked at Kwon Mu-seop with startled eyes, then slowly swept my hand over my face.

Then Kwon Mu-seop gave a hearty laugh and said,

“It is all right. You managed your expression well this time. It did not show at all.”

“Uh…….”

“How many employee interviews do you think I have done until now?”

“Ah.”

“Do you know what the Bureau kids say the most around their first year?”

“What is it……?”

“I do not know what exactly we are doing.”

“…….”

“It feels as if there is no end in sight and no answer, so I feel skeptical.”

I inwardly flinched, feeling as if my true feelings had been seen through.

Manager Kwon Mu-seop smiled as if he had expected it, and I thought of making an excuse, then gave up and let out a sigh.

“The work I originally did at least had clear results.”

“Making books.”

“Yes. Evaluations and numbers aside, in any case, there was always an end each time. If time and effort were put in, it would be published.”

“But our work is a little different.”

At Kwon Mu-seop’s question, spoken as if he knew everything, I nodded.

The Bureau’s work was different from the work I had done.

There was no end, no resolution, and no next step.

It merely coexisted with insane spaces of unknown identity.

And I felt a little skepticism about this situation.

Perhaps quite a lot.

“What did you say when employees said that?”

“I did not say anything in particular.”

“Then did you have the team leaders grind them down?”

“No, the kids are speaking honestly. Why would I grind them down for that…….”

At my guess, Kwon Mu-seop laughed as if dumbfounded.

“I just said that what they said was right too. Instead, I told them to think about it for themselves.”

“……?”

“Why their seniors are enduring.”

Manager Kwon Mu-seop was not particularly solemn.

He simply spoke as if choosing a lunch menu for the day.

“If you understand that, you endure with them. If you do not, then that is as far as you go.”

Kwon Mu-seop finished speaking with a light smile.

In the meantime, the siren sound that had been ringing from deep underground had at some point stopped.

---

It was probably the house guardian serpent spirit Kwak Jae-gyeom had mentioned.

The reason Bureau agents endured this hopeless fight.

I did not not know it either.

Noble sacrifice was also a standard subject in all kinds of stories.

But knowing that with my head did not mean I could accept it.

Questions that only poured down endlessly without completeness.

Major accidents bursting every quarter.

Sisyphus, who merely repeated all of this.

House guardian serpents that seemed to live not under the roof, but inside boiling water.

A house guardian serpent was still a guardian deity.

But Bureau agents were human.

Humans who, if placed over fire, would without fail boil furiously and burst apart.

So if I had a choice, I thought I might have packed my things and run away long ago…….

It was while I was passing another day like any other with these thoughts.

Ding—

An alarm rang on my tablet.

It was an alarm from an app linked to my original cell phone.

For security reasons, I could not use an ordinary carrier cell phone inside the Bureau.

So this was a bypass app I used, but who could it be…….

The person who contacted my personal number was…….

I intended not to meet anyone for at least about a month.

I opened the app passively, then was startled.

The one who contacted me was none other than Author Na Bit.

“Editor, you are doing well, right? I am sorry for contacting you so suddenly. If you are busy, it is all right if you do not reply, but I am still contacting you just in case. I am truly sorry for burdening you for no reason. I also tried not to contact you as much as possible, but…… something I could resolve on my own.”

It was a long-winded text that was not quite like an author, but was like Author Na Bit.

But the latter part was cut off abruptly, so it did not contain the point at all.

I was about to reply.

Bzzzz—

But a call came from Author Na Bit.

Wondering what it was, I immediately answered the phone.

But the call ended the moment I answered.

On top of that, the text that had come to me was also deleted in real time.

-This message has been deleted.

“……?”

I looked at my tablet for a moment, then called Author Na Bit.

The outgoing call tone continued for a long while and eventually moved to missed call.

So I ended the call and called again.

This time, the outgoing call tone sounded 2 or 3 times before abruptly ending.

The other side had rejected the call.

“…….”

After hesitating for a moment, I sent Author Na Bit a message.

“Would texting be more comfortable for you?”

When I sent the message, a speech bubble indicator appeared in the message window.

It seemed Author Na Bit was writing something in reply.

But that speech bubble indicator was not sent to me.

It merely kept appearing and disappearing for over 1 minute…….

“You are available to talk right now, correct?”

I sent another message.

And 30 seconds later.

At last, Author Na Bit’s reply arrived.

“Yes…….”

It was a reply for which I could not understand at all why 30 seconds had been necessary.